Leftover Chapati with Tadka

Leftovers is one thing that troubles all  housewives. A dish that was really appreciated when served for a meal will not be relished if served again at the next meal. Forget the family, even we don't like eating the same dish repeatedly. The only recourse then left is to change its taste and look and feel to make a completely different dish. So, dal is cooked till dry and transformed into filling for parathas, sabzi is re-seasoned with spices and made into koftas and so on. Today, I bring a transformation of the humble chapati or roti into an upma suitable for breakfast. It is difficult to predict how many rotis the family will eat at a meal and this is one food stuff that is many a times in excess.

 

This is a commonly made dish in Maharashtrian households and is called phodnichi poli / chapati translated to seasoned chapati or tadkewali roti. Previous night's chapati can easily be transformed into a breakfast dish in this way, rather than serving it reheated.  

Ingredients
Chapati - 5 to 6
Onion - 1, medium
Tomato - 1
Green chilli - 3 to 4
Red chilli pwd - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies - 1 to 2
Asafoetida pwd - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric pwd - 1tsp
Coriander sprigs - 2 to 3
Oil - 1.5 tbsp
Optional garnish
Crushed roasted peanuts - 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Tear the chapati into 1 inch pieces and keep in a bowl. Sprinkle some water and a little salt, mix well and keep covered till ready to cook. Chop onion, tomato, green chillies and coriander sprigs and keep aside.

Heat a kadai or pan and add the oil in. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let the mustard seeds splutter. Tear the dry red chilli into 3 pieces and add along with the asafoetida powder into the oil and stir. Add the chopped onions and saute till light golden in color. Then add in the turmeric and red chilli powders and stir and follow it with the chopped tomato and green chilli and continue sauteeing till the tomato turns soft. To this mixture, add the chapati pieces and saute on medium heat. Check for seasoning and add salt if necessary and stir. Stir till the moisture evaporates from the chapati pieces. Garnish with coriander leaves and stir for a minute or two. Take it off the heat and serve with a wedge of lemon.

 

 

My Leftover Chapati with Tadka goes to - North East West Indian Cooking hosted by Anu.

 

Maamoul / Cashew and Fig Stuffed Cookie

This Cashew and Fig stuffed Cookie is similar to the Maamoul or Ma'amoul from the Middle East. The Maamoul is a shortbread cookie with a sweet filling - most commonly dates and sometimes with pistachios or walnuts. This stuffed cookie is only mildly sweet unlike most cookies from around the world. A wide range of ingredients can be used as stuffing only that it should be dry so that the cookie dough is not moistened due to it. Today, I have used two different fillings to make these stuffed cookies - the smaller set with tutti frutti and the bigger one with fig and cashew nut mix.

This is a very easy recipe and all you need to do is measure the ingredients and make into a dough. And the stuffing can be of your choice and taste. But, truth said, my first batch of Maamoul did not turn out well - I used salted butter and it really tasted salty. Then the temperature and time I set my oven to was not right, it burnt my cookies. But I did another batch right away all the way through and managed to get it right. And now I have this recipe for keeps.

Ingredients
All Purpose flour / Maida - 2 cups
Powdered Sugar - 2/3 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Butter, unsalted - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup (maybe an additional 1 tbsp)
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Powdered sugar for dusting - 1/4 cup
for filling
Figs, dry - 8 to 10
Cashew nuts - 20 to 25
Tutti frutti - 3 to 4 tbsp
I used two different fillings today - plain tutti frutti for one and a mix of the figs and cashew nuts for the other. Wash the figs well and dry them. In a blending jar add the cashew nuts and powder it then add the figs and pulse a few times till the two are well blended. Take it into a bowl and keep till ready to use.

In a bowl, mix together the all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and powder sugar. Melt the butter but use it only when it comes to room temperature. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the melted butter, oil and milk and with a soft hand make a ball of dough. This dough should not be over kneaded but just till the dough comes together.

Preheat the oven to 165 degrees Celsius.
Make equal sized balls of the cookie dough. I used a tablespoon measure to make 20 balls and then with the rest of the dough used a teaspoon measure to make 9 equal sized balls. Keep the dough balls in a covered container as you make the stuffed cookie. Take a ball of bough and massage between the palms into a ball then make an indent and put in the stuffing and pull the dough from all sides and cover the stuffing and softly roll in your hands to make it into a ball again. Flatten it slightly and place it on the baking tray. Do the same for all the balls of dough. Keep each of the cookies about 1 inch apart on the baking tray. Slide the tray into the oven and bake till the cookies are light golden which will take about 20 to 30 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then dust with powdered sugar and store in an airtight container.

 

 

My Maamoul / Cashew and Fig Stuffed Cookies are going to
- Valentine's Treat hosted by riappyayan
- Lets Cook Sweet Treats for Valentine hosted by Nayna
- Flavors of the World - Grand Finale hosted by Nayna

  

 

Jam Filled Thumbprint Cookies

Most of us have had those jam topped biscuits, in our childhood, with lot of glee. It was Parle or was it Britannia product? So, when I saw this recipe on the net, those memories of licking the jam off those biscuits came crowding back and I was impatient to try these Jam Filled Thumbprint Cookies. I made these for our friend's son, 'S', who loves all things sweet and is as sweet himself. He is so fond of sweets that after every meal he checks the refrigerator or kitchen cabinet for some sweet to have. And if he doesn't find any, he asks his mother why she couldn't stock up. I hope he likes these Jam Filled Thumbprint Cookies.

I came across this recipe by pure chance and decided to follow it to the 'T' and the outcome was delish! My husband so liked these cookies, I was sure there would be none to send to 'S', so I packed his box and kept it aside. I baked a few cookies with black grape jam and the others with cherry jam. The recipe given below is from this blog.

Ingredients (makes 33 cookies)
Butter - 1 cup
Sugar - 2/3 cup, granules
Egg Yolk - 2
All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
Vanilla essence - 1.5 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Assorted Jam - as required
Preheat the oven to 190 degree Celsius.

All ingredients should be at room temperature. If the sugar is big granules, powder it a bit so that it mixes well in the dough. Melt the butter and add the sugar and beat till light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beat till well incorporated. Add the vanilla essence and salt and mix. Then add the flour little by little and continue beating till the dough comes together. Since I have a hand blender once the flour had mixed in, I mixed the dough into a ball by hand.

 

Make equal sized balls of this dough and press an indent on it. I used a round tablespoon measure to measure equal balls and then shaped them with my hand. Then, I used the back of the quarter teaspoon measure to make the indent. Place these cookies 1 inch apart on a baking tray and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookie underside is light golden. Take the tray out and if the indent on the cookie appears shallow, press it a lightly again. Put a little jam on each of the cookies in the indents and bake again for 3 to 5 minutes or till the jam melts. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and once cool store it in jars.

 

My Jam Filled Thumbprint Cookies are going to
- Valentine's Treat hosted by riappyayan
- Lets Cook Sweet Treats for Valentine hosted by Nayna

  

 

 

Rice Sevai with Coconut Chutney

Rice Sevai is the Indian noodles of South India. Traditionally, making rice sevai was a long process - first rice dough was made, then it was pressed through a mould into noodles which was then streamed. Then these rice noodles / sevai were tempered and served with chutney. Today, making sevai is easy, cut open a pack and immerse it in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then drain the water out and temper it. And it is ready to serve with chutney. The chutney that is served with the Rice Sevai is a simple one, given in an earlier post here. It may be cheating but trust me, this rice sevai and coconut chutney combination is so simply tasty, especially when it is so easy to make.

I use the brand,  Concord rice seva and one packet is just enough for the two of us. The seva is in small pieces unlike noodles and takes just a few minutes to be cooked. All you have to do is put the sevai in a bowl and immerse it in salted boiling water and let it be for 3 to 4 minutes. Don't wait for the sevai to be completely cooked, drain it when there is still a bite to it because it will continue to cook when draining and tempering. Drain the water out with the help of a colander and fluff it a bit to keep it from sticking.

for the tempering

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Udad dal - 1/2 tsp

Dry red chilli - 2

Green chilli - 2

Break the dry red chilli into 1 inch pieces and slit the green chillies. Heat oil in a pan add the mustard seeds and udad dal and let the mustard seeds splutter. Immediately add the dry red chilli and green chilli pieces and saute for a minute. Keep the heat low and add the drained sevai and toss it well with the tempering so both are mixed well. Spread it out in the pan and let any leftover moisture evaporate. The rice sevai is served with Coconut Chutney - it's recipe is given in an earlier post here.

Rice sevai and chutney is mostly served for breakfast and occasionally for a light dinner.

 

Sweet Potato Chips

Who can resist a bowl of chips when watching the idiot box. Most of us sit mesmerized in front of the TV and our hand moves automatically between the bowl and mouth. The chips disappear really fast. The only downside to this yummy snack is its unhealthy nature. Fried in oil, with no known benefits chips only adds to our calorie and fat intake. With fall season comes an assortment of vegetables like the greens, the purple yam, the sweet potato and pumpkin.

Sweet potatoes was not something I liked previously. Till date, I do not like it the way my mother makes it at home. Recently, I tried the sweet potato chat that we get on the Delhi streets during winter and really liked it. The sweet potatoes are smoked and then peeled and diced into pieces. The sweet potato pieces are sprinkled with chat masala and a hot and tangy chutney and given a quick mix before serving it in leaf bowls with a toothpick.

So, I tried this recipe that is simple and tasty at the same time. Do give it a shot for a change from the potato chips.

Ingredients
Sweet potato - 2 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp and a little more to grease the tray
Salt as per taste

Seasoning options
Thyme or Chat Masala or Oregano - a dash

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Peel the sweet potato and slice it in rounds of 1/4th to 1/2 inch width. Keep it immersed in water, so it doesn't oxidise, till ready to cook. Drain and wipe dry, put it in a bowl. Sprinkle a little salt and pour the oil in and mix well. Grease a baking tray and spread the sweet potato slices out and bake for 10 minutes. Then turn each slice over and bake again till done without crisping or blackening. Take it out of the oven when done and sprinkle with the seasoning of choice or leave it simply salted.

Serve this out in a bowl and eat it when still hot.

Ela Ada / Coconut & Jaggery Pancake

Ela Ada, literally translated means pancake (ada) made in a leaf (ela or ila), in this case wrapped in a banana leaf. Traditionally, the simplest version of this ada had to be made for Onam. This was a simple snack that was made during my mother's childhood days because all the ingredients that go in this was abundantly available. Both the rice and coconut came from the land and some rice was always kept powdered for making breakfast and snack dishes. Ela ada was one of those snacks that was quickly rustled up incase any of the children felt hungry.

 

Staying in a city like Delhi and in an area with hardly any South Indians, laying our hands on banana leaves was next to impossible. During Vishu or Onam truckloads of stuff from Kerala comes into Delhi and at that time getting the leaves is easy. Though it is possible to use parchment paper to make this ada, the ada does not have the flavor that the leaf imparts it. So this time, when my husband made a trip to Mumbai, I asked my mother to send some leaves from the garden. And true to the nature of mothers, mine went ahead and wilted it over fire, making it ready to be used. Tightly wrapped in newspaper, the leaves are in my refrigerator for a few more rounds of ada and snack making.

 

The colors seen when making this ela ada was so good that my husband volunteered to take pics for a step by step pictorial.

Ingredients (makes 5 long Ada)
Banana leaf - 1
Rice flour - 1 cup
Water as required
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1/4 tsp
for filling
coconut - 1/2
jaggery - 1 cup

Clean the banana leaf by wiping it with a moist cloth completely. Switch on the gas stove and keep on low, then slowly hold the banana leaf over it and let it wilt lightly. Keep moving the leaf so that the flame wilts each and every part of the leaf. Do not keep any one portion over the flame for long, it will burn and that portion will have to be discarded. This is done to make the leaf pliable, to be able to fold without tearing the leaf. Once done, lay it out flat on the kitchen platform. Then cut the banana leaf lengthwise in the middle along the vein. Then cut each long piece into 3 pieces. Apply ghee or oil very lightly all over the greener side of the leaf. And keep aside.

 

Mix the rice flour and salt and sugar well. Add water little by little to make a very soft and almost loose dough.

Grate coconut and mix with the grated jaggery 

 Take a little dough in your hand and patting your fingers spread it on the leaf in a rectangle shape.

If the dough is too thick or difficult to spread, wet fingers with a little water and spread it thinly. 

Spread the coconut jaggery mixture on half of the rice dough leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch space around the edges of the dough

 Carefully lift the dough covered leaf and fold over the to cover the coconut jaggery mix with it

 

 Softly pat it down the folded over leaf to seal all around and the edges.

Steam it in a idli steamer or in a pressure cooker or rice cooker.

 Remove the ada from the steamer and lift off one side of the leaf. Cut into pieces and serve.

Soft and sweet Ela Ada is ready to be eaten.

The step-by-step Photo courtesy: my dear husband

 

My Ela Ada / Coconut & Jaggery Pancake goes to

- - "Dish it out - coconut & sugar/salt", originally from Vardhini's cooksjoy

Poha - Kaande Pohe & Batate Pohe

Pohe is one of my favorites for breakfast. This is one dish that has a bit of all tastes (except bitter and umami)in it - a li'l bit of salt, bit of sugar, bit of chilli, bit of lemon juice. When all of this comes together to enliven the simple unassuming poha what you have is a comforting and tasty breakfast.

Ingredients for Batate / Potato Pohe

Thick Poha / Aval / Beaten Rice - 1 cup

Onion - 1, medium

Potato - 1, small

Peanuts - 1 tbsp

Green chilli - 3

Mustard / Rai seeds - 1 tsp 

Cumin / Jeera seeds - 1 tsp

Asafoetida / Hing pwd - a generous pinch

Turmeric pwd - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves - 4 to 5

Coconut, grated - 1 tbsp

Lime juice - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1.5 to 2 tsp

Salt as per taste

Oil - 2 tbsp

Wash the poha well and drain it and keep aside. Let the poha be well moistened because as it sits the poha will swell and soften absorbing all the water. Add some salt, sugar and a little turmeric powder  and fluff with a fork and keep covered. Slice the onion, chop the coriander leaves and green chillies and also the potato finely and keep aside.

 

Heat a spoon of oil in a pan and sauté the potato pieces. Scoop the potato out and drain on paper towels. Add the rest of the oil into the pan and when it is hot, add the mustard and cumin seeds and let it splutter. Then add the asafoetida powder and wait for a couple of seconds then add green chillies, peanuts, sliced onion and curry leaves and sauté. When the onion turns translucent add the turmeric powder and sauté for a couple of seconds. Add the moist poha and fried potato pieces and mix well. If the poha is dry sprinkle some water in and mix. The poha should be soft and moist without being wet and sticky. Taste the poha and check if the salt and sugar is in proportion. Then add the lemon juice, mix then the coriander leaves, mix. then sprinkle the grated coconut on top. Cover with a lid and take off the heat.

 

Serve poha in a bowl / plate with a wedge of lemon and a sprinkling of coriander leaves and grated coconut.

 

Variation - Kaande Pohe

Pohe can be made by omitting the potato completely, with only onion for Kaande Pohe, in which case increase the quantity of onion a little.

Notes:

1. Peanuts can be omitted completely in case of nut allergy.

2. The potato can be boiled and cut in pieces and tossed with the fried onions before adding the poha for a different taste.

Poha Upma / Aval Upma

At our home, my husband and I love poha for breakfast but made in completely different ways. My husband likes his poha made the upma way and I love my poha done the kaande pohe or the Maharashtrian way. So each of us gets his way in turns, with me at an advantage because I make it! Or like I did today, I make the poha the upma way just for my husband and then unable to hold back, made some, my favorite way for breakfast.

Ingredients

Thick Poha / Aval / Beaten Rice - 1 cup

Onion - 1, medium

Green chillies - 3

Curry leaves - 5 to 6

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1/4 tsp

Salt as per taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Wash the poha well and drain. Put it into a bowl sprinkle a little water, salt and sugar and using a fork mix and fluff it up. Keep it covered. The poha has to be well moistened but not stick wet.

In a pan, heat oil and when it is hot add the mustard seeds. Let it splutter and add the curry leaves, green chillies and the chopped onion. Sauté till the onion turns translucent. Add the poha and sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes. Take off the heat.

 

The poha upma or aval upma is ready to be served for breakfast with tea.

 

Salty Twisties / Namak Para

The Namak Para is one of the last few snacks I made for Diwali, but with all the other preparations going on there was hardly any time to post it. So though late, this gets posted here. I shaped the para into twisties when frying because I was yearning cheese twisties but did not have time to make it. I remember my mother making these namak para with jeera in it. And once, when visiting a friend's house her mother had made this with ajwain and specifically asked us to eat it. Ajwain helps in digestion which is sorely needed when its Diwali and all of us are stuffing ourselves with all the goodies around. So when I started making these, I add both jeera and ajwain because jeera also has digestive properties.

 

Ingredients

Maida - 1 cup

Besan - 1/4 cup

Turmeric - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds / Jeera - 1tsp

Carom seeds / Ajwain - 1 tsp

Red chilli pwd - 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Water to mix into dough

Oil for frying

Sift the maida and besan together into a bowl. Add the turmeric and red chilli powders, cumin and carom seeds and salt as per taste. Mix well. Then add water little by little to make a pliable dough. Take a ball of dough and keep the rest covered. Roll this ball of dough into a slightly thick square chapati. Cut into 3/4th inch wide strips. Cut each strip into 3 inch long pieces. Cut both ends diagonally.

Pour oil into a kadai and put it on medium heat. 

Continue making strips of the whole chapati like above. When the oil is hot, lower the heat and start the frying. Hold one end of the strip with one hand then twist it and hold the other end with a pair of tongs. Release the end of the strip held by the hand and keeping it twisted lower the other end with the tong still holding it. When the strip starts firming up release it from the tong. Fry till golden. Change sides carefully, the twist may come undone. Scoop with a slotted spoon onto paper towels to drain off excess oil.

If you like to keep it simple just cut the chapati into diamond shaped ones and fry. Turn sides to fry them completely and then drain off onto paper towels.

 

Store in an airtight container. The contents of my container did not last long, my husband kept dipping into it every time he passed by the kitchen.

This recipe for Salted Twisties / Namak Para is going to these events :

-  "Diwali Bash 2013" hosted by cooksjoy.

-  "Diwali Delicacies Event" jointly hosted by priyaeasyntastyrecipes & spicytreats 

-  "Spotlight: Festival Treats" hosted by cuisinedelights

Egg Sandwich

Who doesn't like a sandwich? especially a creamy mayonnaise added one. The first time I had an egg sandwich, was from my friend's lunch box in school. I did not particularly like it, I thought the taste wasn't right, maybe something was missing. I did not take to it and avoided it for long, till I had it again years later, at a café. And that's where I liked it and tried making it at home. The mayo, mustard mix makes a good spread to use on this sandwich. It's easy to make and only requires some time to prep.

Ingredients (makes 2 sandwiches)
Bread - 4 slices
Butter - 2 tsp (optional)
Eggs - 2
Onion - 2 tbsp, chopped
Celery - 2 tbsp, chopped
Cabbage - 2 tbsp, chopped
Mayonnaise - 2 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Tomato Ketchup - 1 tsp
Pepper pwd - 2 pinches
Salt (optional)

Hard boil the eggs and when cool peel and chop the eggs into small pieces. Put the chopped eggs into a bowl and add the chopped onion, celery, cabbage, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, salt (optional) and pepper powder and mix well. Crush slightly with the back of the spoon when mixing.
 

Lightly toast the bread slices and apply butter on one side of each slice. Spread some of the egg mix on the buttered side of two slices and cover with the other slices. Press down a little and then cut each sandwich into two.  

Serve with some ketchup and mustard and a salad on the side.

Maida Chakli

This recipe for chakli made from maida is from my mother in law. Her chakli always turned out nice and crispy and my husband and I always enjoyed munching it. I was surprised when she gave me the recipe since it was super easy without any of the hassles of grinding it in the mill, etc. You can pick the flours available in any store and start with the making of it. 

At my in laws place, my mother in law made this chakli and shakkarpare and then my father in law made the rawa ladoos. The making of the rawa ladoo was like an event. He wanted the kitchen to himself and wanted my mother in law to clear out after keeping the containers of all the containers out. In fact, many a times he made the rawa ladoo when my mother in law went to the temple leaving him to do as he wanted. And then started the measurement, the roasting, the sauteing and finally mixing and making the laddoo itself. My husband really loves the rawa ladoo but I never learned to make it from my father in law and till date, we buy rawa laddoo at home. May be one day, I will try a recipe and surprise my husband, (hopefully) pleasantly. 

Back to my chakli.

Ingredients
Maida - 1 cup
Red chilli pwd - 1 tsp
White Sesame seeds - 1.5 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt as per taste
Water for making dough
Oil for frying

Take a dry muslin cloth, spread it out open and put the maida in the center. Bring together all the ends and tie it up into a potli. Leave a little space within so the flour is not bound too tight. Put this potli in a steamer stand making sure the potli does not get wet. Steam for 15 minutes on medium heat. Take the maida potli out on to a plate with the help of tongs. You will see that the maida has clumped up, without opening the potli crush these clumps with the back of the mortar or sil (from the sil - batta) when hot. Then sieve this into a bowl. Add salt, red chilli powder, sesame seeds and cumin seeds and mix with your fingers. Knead this flour into dough by adding water little by little. Keep the ball of dough covered. 

Fill the chakli mould with a ball dough and press into either coils or straight pieces. Heat oil on high and when hot reduce the heat and slowly slide the chakli pieces into the oil. The pieces should be submerged in oil and should have space to be turned over. Fry till light golden. Scoop the chaklis onto paper towels to absorb the excess oil and when cool store in an airtight container. 

A small variation in the flour mix also makes a great chakli.

Variation

Maida - 3/4 cup

Besan - 1/8 cup

Wheat flour - 1/8 cup

Mix all the flours and then tie into the potli and steam. Follow the recipe as given above. 

Chakli made by: (l to r) my mom, me and my mother-in-law

 

This recipe for Chirote / Khaja is going to these events :

-  "Diwali Special" hosted by gayathriscookspot.

&

-  "Diwali Bash 2013" hosted by cooksjoy.

-  "Diwali Delicacies Event" jointly hosted by priyaeasyntastyrecipes & spicytreats

-  "Spotlight: Festival Treats" hosted by cuisinedelights



Shankarpalli / Shakkarpare

Every time I make Shankarpalli, I am reminded of my friend L's mother. Auntie shared her recipe with me and encouraged me to try it her way. I remember, I had made some and took it to her for her verdict. Auntie is a very good cook and took pride and pleasure in preparing different and new dishes. She could turn the simplest of meals to the tastiest, with her koshimbirs, thechas and chutneys. Auntie would cook up quite a faraal spread for Diwali - chivda, ladoo, coconut barfi, kaju katli, chakli, shankarpalli and she would ply L and me with all these goodies and we would happily stuff ourselves. This year, they will be in Mumbai during Diwali but since I am not going there I will miss them. This is Shankarpalli goes to Auntie. 

Ingredients

Milk - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 1/2 cup

Maida / All purpose flour - as required

Oil for frying

In a pan heat milk and add the sugar and mix in. Add the ghee and stir till it is melted and mixed. Take off the heat and keep to cool. The milk will curdle and it is normal. When it has cooled down, add the maida little by little and make a soft dough. Make balls of dough and keep covered in a container. Roll out each ball of dough into square / rectangle shaped chapati. It should be slightly thicker than normal chapati (not phulka). Place this on the back of a plate and cut into square / diamond shaped pieces. Once two such chapatis are made and cut into squares, start the frying. And then roll and cut parallely with the frying.

 

Heat oil in a kadai on medium high. When hot, reduce the heat and slowly slide the pieces into the oil for frying. Fry till the pieces are light golden then scoop it onto paper towels to drain off the excess oil. Store in an air tight container.  

Today, when the milk and ghee mix was cooling, I started prepping my lunch, a potato and beet salad. That's when the idea of adding grated beets came to me, so I took one portion of the dough and added the beet and kneaded again. After that continue with the steps of rolling and cutting and frying. The beets give the fried shankarpalli a red hue but it was negligible if browned when frying.

Beet Shankarpalli



 

This recipe for Shankarpalli / Shakkarpare is going to these events :

-  "Diwali Special" hosted by gayathriscookspot.

&

-  "Diwali Bash 2013" hosted by cooksjoy.

-  "Diwali Delicacies Event" jointly hosted by priyaeasyntastyrecipes & spicytreats

-  "Spotlight: Festival Treats" hosted by cuisinedelights



Chirote / Khaja, a layered sweet delight

Chirote is a sweet snack made in Maharashtra for Diwali that looks like a not completely pressed dry flower. This is sweet is layered and looks like a rosette with the layers opening after it is fried. The chirote also known as khaja, chiroti or pakwan, features in the cuisine of different states like Oriya, Karnataka and a few others. I read about chirote a few years ago and although it seemed like a great tasting sweet, I had my doubts about being able to get it right. Last evening, I did give it a try and it did not seem difficult at all, just that it requires a little patience.

 

Just like the lights and lamps, snacks, both sweet and savory are intrinsic to the celebration of Diwali. As children, during the run up to Diwali, all the apartments in the whole building buzzed like a beehive. We saw a lot of cleaning at all homes, new torans / bandhan dwars were put up, and a few days prior to Diwali rangolis were drawn, diyas were lit at entrances, etc. Along with all this, the women managed to make yummy delights as well. Typically, the afternoons, when most of the ladies managed to take some time out from chores, were earmarked for making goodies. Yummy aromas from all around wafted in from the windows at that time and sometimes we could guess which aunty was making what goodie. The aunties took pride in cooking up a range of sweet and savory snacks and each aunty was known for at least one delicacy. Like Aunty S was known to make the tedious and time consuming wheat halwa at home. Aunty A made yummy besan ladoo that her daughter also learnt to make later. Aunty L made ribbon pakodas that were soft and crisp at the same time. The best Maharashtrian chakli was made by Aunty K along with a melt in the mouth burfi. I remember having some spicy chivda as well but cannot remember who made it. On the day of Diwali, we children would take plateful of goodies to the other apartments and would return with some of their goodies. Tea time meant having a choice of the yummiest of snack spread at home.

For many years I could not be bothered with making any of these snacks but then I guess with age comes nostalgia and I started preparing a few delicacies at home. And now, I like to try at least one different snack each time and the Chirote is one such attempt . I followed Madhura's recipe for Chirote because the addition of rawa / semolina gives it a little crunch and this worked well for me.

Ingredients

Oil for deep frying
for the chirote
Maida / All purpose flour - 1 cup
Rawa / Semolina - 1/4 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp
for applying between layers
Ghee / Butter - 2 tbsp
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
for the syrup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Saffron - few strands
Lightly powder the rawa / semolina in a dry grinder. Mix together the maida / flour and the rawa in a bowl. Heat the oil and add it spoon by spoon into the flour, mixing it with a spoon all the while. Then wait for a few minutes for the oil to cool a little. Using your fingers rub the oil into the flour mixture till it resembles bread crumbs. Then add the water little by little and make a soft smooth dough. Divide the dough into six equal balls and keep it in a bowl and cover with a lid or cling film.

The ghee / butter should be in room temperature and not hard when using. In a bowl add the ghee and the rice floor and mix well. Keep this aside.

Take a rolling pin and using a clean surface, roll out each ball into a thin round chapati and keep separately. Place one thin chapati on a flat surface. Spoon a little of the ghee and rice flour mix and dot it all over the chapati. Spread it so it covers the entire chapati. Cover this chapati with another one and spread the ghee and rice flour mix like before. Place the third chapati on top on it and apply the ghee and rice flour mix like before. Now, starting from one edge, raise this edge a little and start rolling it inward into a tight log like in a pinwheel roll. Take a sharp knife and cut the two ends of the log. Hold the log with one hand and cut the log into half inch to 1 inch pieces, keeping the knife in a slight slant direction so the layers are visible. With the rolling pin flatten these pieces by rolling it out lightly. When rolled the pieces will be an oblong rectangle.

In a sauce pan, add the sugar and water and heat till a simple syrup is made. Add the saffron strands or saffron syrup and take off the heat.
Heat the oil in a kadai or pan and slowly fry the rolled out pieces one by one, gently pressing down the pieces. As it fries the layers will separate, scoop out when done and drain off on paper towels. When the oil is drained completely add the pieces one by one into the saffron infused sugar syrup and dip all sides to coat completely. Then lift off with tongs and stand it in a bowl to drain excess syrup. Continue frying all the pieces and dipping in the sugar syrup. Once the syrup is drained serve on a platter.

Variation
Caster sugar - 1 bowl
Once the pieces are fried and drained off on the paper towels, drop one piece at a time into the bowl and coat all sides with the sugar. Spread it on a platter and its ready to serve.

Sugar syrup coated chirote

This recipe for Chirote / Khaja is going to these events :

-  "Diwali Special" hosted by gayathriscookspot.

&

-  "Diwali Bash 2013" hosted by cooksjoy.

-  "Diwali Delicacies Event" jointly hosted by priyaeasyntastyrecipes & spicytreats

-  "Spotlight: Festival Treats" hosted by cuisinedelights

Aloo Pyaaz Pakoda / Kaanda Batata Bhajia / Potato n Onion Fritters

Who doesn't love a plate of pakoda / bhajia / bhajji (a rose by any name would smell .....) with piping hot tea. Yesterday afternoon the clouds started gathering and helped to set the mood for the rains to come. It rained for no more than 20 minutes in all but that was more than enough to set the ball rolling in the kitchen for some pakodas and tea. I decided to try a mixed pakoda we ate once at a small railway station in Rajasthan early in the morning. It was actually quite simple - potato and onion pieces in besan (gram flour) with a few spices/ herbs. So tried to recreate that magic today!  

You can try this pakoda with different vegetable combinations like: onion-potato-capsicum, onion-capsicum-cabbage, onion-spinach, onion-potato-cauliflower, etc. Go ahead create more pairings, use carrots, beans, peas, spinach / palak, methi / fenugreek leaves, zucchini, colorful bell peppers, water chestnuts for crunch.... The combinations are endless, let your taste and imagination lead you on this trip. Chop the veges real fine and the children will also happily gobble them up.

 

For us, this pakoda made its mark on one of our trips in Rajasthan when we travelled by train in the sleeper class. I mention sleeper class because it was a night journey in the winter and you are exposed to whatever temperature goes outside or maybe colder. Now, we had not realized how cold it gets in a train and had not carried blankets and stuff that we saw with other passengers. So once inside, we piled on as many layers (read 2 t-shirts and a sweater, a jeans and a sweat pant and 2 socks on me!) and lay down to catch a few winks. After tossing and turning the whole night we woke up at 6am hoping to get some hot tea and biscuits to alleviate a little of the teeth chattering cold. We passed through many small sleepy stations but not much stirred that early. At about 7am we stopped at this small station where one sole vendor had started selling pakodas and tea so we quickly got off and bought some. It was a beautiful sight, the sun was not out completely, there was a light fog, the platform was empty other than this vendor with a handful of people hovering around him. Now, fried stuff is not something we have ever had for breakfast but that cold morning it seemed like maana from heaven.

Aloo Pyaaz Pakoda / Kaanda Batata Bhajia / Potato n Onion Fritters

Ingredients

Besan/ Gram flour - 1.5cups

Alu/ Potato - 1 small finely chopped

Pyaaz/ Onion - 2 medium finely chopped

Haldi/ Turmeric pwd - 1/4 tsp

Mirchi/ Red Chili pwd - 1/2 tsp

Dhania/ Coriander seeds crushed/ pwdr - 1/4 tsp

Coriander leaves chopped - 1/2tsp

Green chilli - 1 deseeded and chopped

Soda - 1 pinch (optional)

Salt to taste

Water - little to make batter

Oil for frying

Start by taking a mixing bowl and put in the chopped onions, chopped potatoes, turmeric, chili powder, crushed coriander seeds and salt. Mix this well, slightly crushing the potato and onions with the back of the spoon. This will release some water from them.

 

I prefer adding very little water because the onion releases water and our mix could become watery. Aim to get a batter that is of dropping consistency with a little coaxing. Add 1tbsp at a time and mix well to form a thick batter of dropping consistency. Now add the chopped coriander leaves and the green chili. I deseeded the chili because it is added more for flavor than heat. You can add a pinch of soda to make the bhajia light and crispy. Heat some oil in a kadai / pan for deep frying the pakodas. Once the oil is hot take a teaspoon of this hot oil and add to the batter and mix well. I have been told that it makes the pakoda crisp and it does not absorb much oil.

You can test if the oil is of right temperature by dropping a bit of the batter into the oil, if it rises to the top then we are ready to start our frying. Now drop spoonful's of the mix into the hot oil. Don't crowd the pakodas in the oil let them be submerged and have space around them. Once you have dropped all the pakodas you can, lower the gas heat to let the pakodas cook, else you will have crisp outside and wet and uncooked inside.

Turn the pakodas / bhajias to cook evenly on all sides. Cook until the pakodas / bhajias are golden in color. Then scoop them with a slotted spoon and hold the spoon above the kadai till as much oil is drained. Drop them onto a tissue lined platter and they are ready to be served.

Serve them with tomato ketchup and tomato chili sauce and a mug of hot chai / chaa / tea.

Most of us have a story around pakodas and chai so go ahead reminisce and have a nice time. Enjoy!!!

My Aloo Pyaaz Pakoda goes to
- C'mon chefs cook up some hosted by cookclickndevour